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 Homepage on December 25, 2022 | |
Type of site | Santa tracking simulation, education and entertainment website |
|---|---|
| Owner | Google, Inc. |
| URL | santatracker |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | December 1, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-12-01)[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | Images/audio:CC BY 4.0Other files:Apache License 2.0[2] |
Google Santa Tracker is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment website, first launched on December 1, 2004 byGoogle, that simulates[3] the tracking of thelegendarycharacterSanta Claus onChristmas Eve,[4] using pre-determined location information.[5] It also allows users to play, watch, and learn through various Christmas-themed activities. The site was inspired byNORAD Tracks Santa, which has operated since 1955.
In early 2004, employees at Google stated that "they felt like it could be better for users to 'visualize' where Santa is currently at" in response to theNORAD Tracks Santa service.[6] Later that year,Keyhole, Inc. was acquired byGoogle in 2004, they launched a paid service titled the "Keyhole Earth Viewer" (Google Earth's original name), where they would launch a service within the program titled the "Keyhole Santa Radar". The service received 25,000 viewers in its debut, and 250,000 the following year.[7]
In 2007,NORAD and Google formally announced a partnership which would last for the next five years.
In 2015, Google announced that Google Santa Tracker is now open source throughGitHub.[8] This would mean that its users could install Google Santa Tracker as anAPK file onAndroid devices. They also announced a handful of custom watch faces forAndroid Wear.
In 2018, the Santa Tracker added several features for students and educators. On December 4, 2018, the website fully launched a suite of games and lesson plans about coding basics and Christmas traditions around the world. The site also features information about non-profit organizationsKhan Academy andCode.org.[9] The 2018 Google Santa Tracker page also allowed users to use theGoogle Assistant to simulate a call to Santa or listen to a Christmas story.[10] The website had 42.2 million visitors in December of that year.[11] The website claimed that Santa had delivered 5.6 billion presents in 2019.[12]
In 2020 and 2021, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, Santa,Mrs. Claus and theelves were depicted to bewearing face masks.[13] The face masks were removed in 2022.
Every Christmas Eve, the Google Santa Tracker begins to simulate tracking of Santa at about midnight in thefurthest east time zone (10:00amUTC). The map shows Santa alternating between traveling and handing out presents in cities. Santa appears to travel approximately one time zone west per hour. Santa usually arrives at cities around midnight.Counters simulate to viewers how far Santa has traveled so far, how long until he reaches the viewer's city on the map, the distance from the viewer's city, and the total number of presents delivered. Santa is depicted as having helpers with him, including the standardreindeer and elves, along withpenguins and asnowman.
For each city that Santa is said to visit, the first few paragraphs of the corresponding Wikipedia article are shown, giving an overview of the city. The website also shows photos with the city in the background and a depiction of Santa or his helpers in the foreground. The temperature of the city is accurately given using data fromThe Weather Channel. Not every large city is visited; some large cities close to other large cities are skipped, while smaller cities that are far from any other populated place are occasionally featured. Even when Santa is traveling, the counter showing the total presents delivered increases, but at a slower rate than when Santa is in a city. This rate is faster or slower depending on the population of the city Santa is in.[14]
The 2016 site also featured a "This Just In" section. This section features photos resembling those taken onsocial media websites, which feature Santa and his helpers partaking in various activities, including imitating the cover ofAbbey Road, delivering presents, and takingselfies. Users can also watch animated sketches and play games.[15] Since 2020, no new content has been produced for the site.
